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Is Valcyte a stimulant?

Pink

Senior Member
Messages
574
Location
Tri state area
I'm on valcyte about a month now & my insomnia &anxiety is a lot worse.
I also get woken by severe heart palpitations (feels like banging in my chest).

I stopped it a week ago bec of various other side effects but the insomnia & palpitations are getting worse. (Took 2 small doses of lexapro but those didn't agree w me)

I read another thread that said valcyte can act like a stimulant; is that accurate? And how do I get rid of these side effects?
 

Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
Based on personal experience and research, given certain homeostatic states any compound might act as a stimulant (or a depressant). In the abstract, alone Valcyte does not act as a stimulant.

If you’re having side effects why take it? It has a pretty narrowly defined efficacy target and unless you know that you have high enterovirus titers it’s not likely
to make you feel better over time, but worse to the point you’ll feel compelled to discard it. FWIW, I have tried it on 3 separate occasions and ended up aborting the effort
due to intolerance. BTW, the same occurred with ARV trials. These things are in the main professional anecdotal and on a relatively few benefit from them.
 
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leokitten

Senior Member
Messages
1,542
Location
U.S.
I’ve had the same thing with Valcyte, a couple of weeks or so after starting it again my insomnia and wired but tired feeling get way worse. Worsening of these two symptoms also occurs after overexertion just before full PEM.

My theory on it is that it’s not a stimulant at all. Valcyte causes hematologic toxicity, liver toxicity, and various nervous system disorders including insomnia and peripheral neuropathy. It feels like it’s increasing inflammation in my body, just like with overexertion, causing my brain to be on fire and my physical symptoms to get worse.

Also to add, while I had sudden drug intolerances after getting ME/CFS and for 1-2 years after, it slowly disappeared and I can take any medications and supplements without problem for years now. Though even taking Valcyte now causes the above side effects which suggests it has nothing to do with ME/CFS induced drug intolerance.

I also believe ME/CFS affected my liver function and I have multiple symptoms which indicate that. My liver enzymes are only the low end of high but they always are, though I have all these other physical symptoms that suggest my liver has something wrong with it, including an enlarged liver even though I am normal weight. I think Valcyte could cause the same side effects with others who have the same liver function changes due to ME/CFS.
 
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Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
Well because I do have very high viral levels of multiple viruses
There are other ARs which target similar viruses, e.g. Valtrex, Famvir, et al. You can read of experiences of users by searching this forum,) And they are a heck of a lot more palatable than Valcyte (the worst).